This could be very, very special
A few weeks ago, we brought you the news that the BBC were going to turn Philip Pullman’s superb series, His Dark Materials, into a TV show and the production has taken a massive step forward after casting its leading lady.
Deadline have reported that Tom Hooper, director of The King’s Speech and The Danish Girl, has signed on to oversee the big-budget adaptation of the fantasy epic and he has already found his Lyra.
After impressing in Logan, Dafne Keen will star in the leading role and that seems like an incredibly shrewd piece of casting to us. Feisty, clever and tough, Lyra is a great character for any young actress to play and as we saw by her performance as X-23 in James Mangold’s film, Keen seems like the perfect fit for the role.
We’ve also learned that the adaptation is going to be an 8-part series on BBC One. This being said, we’re unsure if those eight episodes are solely dedicated to the first installment of the series, Northern Lights.
The new series is expected to be one of the most expensive British dramas to date and if done right, – unlike The Golden Compass – this could be very, very special. National Treasure and Wonder writer Jack Thorne is writing the script and in Northern Lights, we’re introduced to Lyra whose search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children and a mysterious phenomenon called Dust.
This being said, the next book, The Subtle Knife, is a stunning piece of literature that manages to up the scale, scope, and themes that define Pullman’s beloved books.
Right now, every fan of His Dark Materials is saying the exact same thing – please, please, please get this right. Well, it appears that the TV show is off to a good start.
